Prefrontal cortex and amygdala anatomy in youth with persistent levels of harsh parenting practices and subclinical anxiety symptoms over time during childhood

Abstract

Childhood adversity and anxiety have been associated with increased risk for internalizing disorders later in life and with a range of brain structural abnormalities. However, few studies have examined the link between harsh parenting practices and brain anatomy, outside of severe maltreatment or psychopathology. Moreover, to our knowledge, there has been no research on parenting and subclinical anxiety symptoms which remain persistent over time during childhood (i.e., between 2.5 and 9 years old). Here, we examined data in 94 youth, divided into four cells based on their levels of coercive parenting (high / low) and of anxiety (high / low) between 2.5 and 9 years old. Anatomical images were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and FreeSurfer. Smaller gray matter volumes in the prefrontal cortex regions and in the amygdala were observed in youth with high versus low levels of harsh parenting over time. In addition, we observed significant interaction effects between parenting practices and subclinical anxiety symptoms in rostral anterior cingulate cortical thickness and in amygdala volume. These youth should be followed further in time to identify which youth will or will not go on to develop an anxiety disorder, and to understand factors associated with the development of sustained anxiety psychopathology.

Keywords: FreeSurfer; VBM; anxiety; internalized disorders; parental practices.

Figure 1.

Developmental trajectories groups for the (a) youth anxiety symptoms and (b) maternal harsh parenting practices (N = 1761). Note. The curves represent the values predicted by the model, while the dots represent the values observed for each participant. All trajectories follow a cubic model. The percentages in the legend correspond to the predicted percentage of youths in each group.

Figure 2.

Selection and number of participants at each stage of the research.

Figure 3.

Smaller prefrontal cortex and amygdala volumes in high, compared to low scorers on the harsh parenting dimension. Main effect of parenting for the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (1a), the medial orbitofrontal cortex (1b) and the amygdala (2) from the voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis. All p < .05, family-wise error rate (few)-corrected at a peak level. Color bar shows F statistics. Results are displayed on a Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) T1 brain template, at a threshold of p < .005.

Figure 4.

Significant Parenting×Anxiety interactions for (a) left rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) thickness from FreeSurfer analysis and (b) left amygdala volume from voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis. * p < .05, family-wise error rate (few)-corrected at a peak level for VBM results and Bonferroni corrected for FreeSurfer and VBM analysis. Color bar shows F statistics. Results are displayed on a Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) T1 brain template, at a threshold of p < .005 for VBM results. Anx, Anxiety; HP, Harsh parenting.